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Thursday, September 3, 2015

This Date in Rock Music History: September 4

1952: Gladys Knight & the Pips formed following a birthday party for Bubba Knight in Atlanta, Georgia.

1959: "Mack The Knife" by Bobby Darin was banned by a radio station in New York City.1961: A new girl group appeared on the charts for the first time as the Marvelettes' first single "Please Mr. Postman" debuted.1961: Elvis Presley had the fastest-rising song as "(Marie's The Name) His Latest Flame" moved from 66 to 32.1961: Bobby Vee was rocketing up the charts with his hit "Take Good Care Of My Baby", which moved from 23 to 6 on this date.1961: Bobby Lewis had one of the top R&B songs of the Rock Era with "Tossin' And Turnin", which on this date spent its 10th week at #1.1962: The Beatles recorded "Love Me Do" and five other songs at EMI Studios in London. (Note: some websites claim the songs were recorded at Abbey Road Studios--the studios were not named Abbey Road until 1968, when the Beatles recorded the album 'Abbey Road'.)1964: The Animals made their live debut at the Paramount Theater in Brooklyn, New York.1965: The Rolling Stones performed two shows at the Adelphi Theatre in Belfast, Northern Ireland after performing twice in Dublin the night before.1965: We Five conquered the #1 position on the Easy Listening chart with "You Were On My Mind".1965: The McCoys climbed from 49 to 22 with "Hang On Sloopy".

1965: "Help!" became the Beatles' 36th hit and ninth #1 song...in less than two years. Bob Dylan rose from 6 to 2 with "Like A Rolling Stone", jumping "California Girls" by the Beach Boys. The Righteous Brothers were still at 4 with their classic "Unchained Melody" and the Four Tops remained at position #5 with "It's The Same Old Song". The rest of a fantastic Top 10: Sonny & Cher's former #1 "I Got You Babe", We Five jumped into the list with "You Were On My Mind", James Brown was at 8 with "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag", Barry McGuire shot up from 27 to 9 with "Eve Of Destruction" while Mel Carter fell with "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me".

1967: Monday is of course the date for new releases. Imagine you work as a Music Director on this date and come in to listen to this brand new 45--Lulu released the single "To Sir With Love". (Note: one website claims "To Sir With Love" debuted on the charts on September 3. According to 'Billboard' magazine, "To Sir With Love" debuted on September 9, 1967.)1970: The Rolling Stones released the live album Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out on Decca Records.1971: The new #1 Easy Listening song was "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" from Joan Baez.1971: Tapestry was still the #1 album for a 12th week from Carole King of Stanley, Idaho. She was approaching the record at the time of 18 by the album More of the Monkees. The Moody Blues, meanwhile, made a strong move (8-2) with Every Good Boy Deserves Favour while Paul & Linda McCartney slipped with Ram. Rod Stewart's Every Picture Tells a Story came in fourth. The rest of the Top 10: The Who with Who's Next, James Taylor and Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon, Jethro Tull and Aqualung, the Carpenters and their self-titled release, the Soundtrack to "Jesus Christ Superstar" and Marvin Gaye moved back in the Top 10 with What's Going On.

1971: Paul & Linda McCartney recorded the third-highest jump to #1 of the Rock Era (the other two are by the Beatles), as they rose from #12 to #1 with one of The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era*--"Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey". That ended the Bee Gees' four-week run at the top with "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart". The Undisputed Truth moved up strong with "Smiling Faces Sometimes" and Aretha Franklin's big hit "Spanish Harlem" was at #4. The rest of the Top 10: Donny Osmond's remake of "Go Away Little Girl", Bill Withers moved from 13 to 6 with "Ain't No Sunshine", John Denver's first hit "Take Me Home, Country Roads" was at 7, the Five Man Electrical Band were at 8 after peaking at #3 with "Signs", Three Dog Night were at 9 with their sixth Top 10 hit "Liar" and Rare Earth crashed into the Top 10 with "I Just Want To Celebrate".1975: The Eagles were in concert at the Waikiki Shell in Honolulu, Hawai'i.1976: ABBA had the #1 song in the U.K.--"Dancing Queen".1976: War had the perfect #1 song on the Adult Contemporary chart--"Summer".1976: The #1 R&B song was "Play That Funky Music" from Wild Cherry.1976: On the other side of the Atlantic, the Bee Gees moved to #1 with "You Should Be Dancing", holding off Lou Rawls and "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine". Wings could not fly past 3 with "Let 'Em In" while new duo England Dan & John Ford Coley moved up with "I'd Really Love To See You Tonight". The rest of an outstanding Top 10: K.C. and the Sunshine Band with "(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty", Wild Cherry at 6--"Play That Funky Music", Walter Murphy moved up with 'A Fifth Of Beethoven", Elton John & Kiki Dee took a tumble from #1 with "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", Boz Scaggs moved from 16 to 9 with "Lowdown" and George Benson had song #10--"This Masquerade".1976: After 58 weeks, the self-titled Fleetwood Mac LP moved to #1, the fourth-longest time before reaching #1 of the Rock Era. 1980: Yes performed the first of three sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden in New York City.1982: Pat Benatar, the Cars, Santana, the Kinks, Eddie Money and Dave Edmunds played on a spectacular day of music at the US Festival at the Glen Helen Regional Park near San Bernadino, California.

1982: Glenn Frey had one of the hottest songs on this date as his solo release "The One You Love" moved from 75 to 53.

1982: The Steve Miller Band moved to #1 with "Abracadabra", which meant for the first time in seven weeks, "Eye Of The Tiger" by Survivor was not #1. Chicago moved from 5-3 with "Hard To Say I'm Sorry" and at #4--Fleetwood Mac's "Hold Me". Air Supply reached #5 with "Even The Nights Are Better". The rest of the Top 10: Melissa Manchester moved from 11 to 6 with her biggest career hit "You Should Hear How She Talks About You", John Cougar Mellencamp dropped with "Hurts So Good", the Go-Go's remained on "Vacation", Crosby Stills & Nash were at 9 with "Wasted On The Way" and Sir Paul McCartney was in the #10 spot with "Take It Away".1982: Chicago remained at #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart with "Hard To Say I'm Sorry".1986: After getting his license back after a five-year suspension, Gregg Allman celebrated by getting arrested for drunk driving in Florida.1993: Paula Abdul hosted an AIDS awareness television special called In a New Light '93.1993: UB40 spent a seventh week at #1 with their remake of the Elvis Presley classic "Can't Help Falling In Love".1996: Yusaf Islam, formerly Cat Stevens, signed copies of his first album in 18 years. Islam used the occasion to promote the spoken-word album praising Allah--The Life of the Last Prophet.1996: KISS performed on the MTV Video Music Awards.1997: Bruce Springsteen joined the Wallflowers onstage to sing "One Headlight" at the MTV Video Music Awards.1997: After the Foo Fighters performed at the MTV Video Music Awards, guitarist Pat Smear announced that he was quitting the group.2003: The Spin Doctors announced that they were getting back together.

2002: Kelly Clarkson won the first "American Idol" competition.2003: Aerosmith, Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige and Good Charlotte performed at the Washington Mall in Washington, D.C. to kick off the National Football League season.2003: Universal Music Group announced that they were slashing prices of CD's to $12.98.2003: North Carolina Reverend Paul Scott slammed the Nelly-endorsed energy drink Pimp Juice, saying "As black men we should be building a nation of strong black leaders, not a nation of super energized, drunk pimps."2012: Lillian Lopez, singer with Odyssey ("Native New Yorker"), died of cancer at age 76.

Born This Day:1942: Gene Parsons of the Byrds and Flying Burrito Brothers was born in Morongo Valley, California.1942: Merald "Bubba" Knight of Gladys Knight and the Pips was born in Atlanta, Georgia1946: Gary Duncan, guitarist of Quicksilver Messenger Service, was born in San Diego, California.1946: Greg Elmore, drummer of Quicksilver Messenger Service, was born in the Coronado Naval Air Station, California.1950: Ronald LaPread of the Commodores

1951: Martin Chambers, great drummer of the Pretenders, was born in Hereford, Herefordshire, England.

1960: Kim Thayil, elite guitarist with Soundgarden, was born in Seattle, Washington.1980: Dan Miller of O-Town was born in Laconia, New Hampshire.

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About Me

I worked at KFXD-AM & FM in Boise, Idaho for 10 years, serving as Research Director, Music Director and Sports Director among other things. During this time, I researched, organized and produced several music specials including The Top 500 Songs of All-Time and The Top 100 Artists of the Rock Era.
I started Inside The Rock Era in 2011 to counter the sea of misinformation about rock music in general and specifically which songs, albums and artists were the most successful. Since that time, Inside The Rock Era has received over one million page views.
I am the author of two books, The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era* and The Top 100 Female Artists of the Rock Era*, both available in softcover and Kindle on Amazon and on this website.